Good morning, Mets fans! In his media availability on Wednesday, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters that the team will be having certain guest instructors during spring training. The three that he mentioned are Mets legends Carlos Beltrán, Edgardo Alfonzo and Darryl Strawberry. Mendoza said that the three former big league All-Stars will have lockers and uniforms available to them just...
J.J. Putz had a solid 12-year MLB career as a right-handed relief pitcher. Like most relievers he experienced up-and-down years, but when he was at his peak in 2007, he was one of the best relievers in baseball. The Seattle Mariners, Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks all received some production from the Trenton, MI native, but the New York Mets received arguably his worst season and...
From 2006 through the 2013 season, right-handed reliever J.J. Putz was one of the more dominant back-end relievers in baseball. Among qualified relievers during that stretch, Putz was sixth in fWAR (10.5), 14th in FIP (2.74), tied for 13th in K-BB% (21.1) and recorded the 8th-most saves (179). His best season came in 2007 with the Seattle Mariners, where he appeared in 68 games posting the...
The Baseball Hall of Fame has released the 2020 Hall of Fame ballot. Derek Jeter headlines a group of first time candidates as he looks to join his teammate Mariano Rivera has the only unanimously inducted Hall of Famers. The other first time candidates include Bobby Abreu, Josh Beckett, Heath Bell, Eric Chavez, Adam Dunn, Chone Figgins, Rafael Furcal, Jason Giambi, Raul Ibanez, Paul Konerko,...
“He was good. Until he went to the Mets.” If you’re a Mets fan, there’s a solid chance you say or hear that sentence at least ten times per year. The Mets have had several notable occurrences of “He Was Good Until He Went To The Mets” syndrome over their five decades of play, and countless players have fallen prey to it. When the Mets turned 50, they released...
Yes I know Opening Day is about three months away yet I found myself daydreaming during the Curtis Granderson introductory press conference yesterday. Who/what could I be daydreaming about you may ask? Was it Jennifer Love Hewitt ? No. Was it Jessica Alba in a string bikini ? Nope . Could it be about the ’71 Dodge Demon 340 that I lusted over since I was 13 ? Nuh-uh. Then what could it be...
Update 11/23 at 9:45 PM Free agent reliever Joe Smith just signed with the Los Angeles Angels on a 3-year deal worth a little more than $15 million, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Read my thoughts on Joe Smith from an earlier post below… Original Post Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the Indians were not expected to retain Joe Smith. Smith, as most of you...
The Kansas City Royals have signed free-agent starting pitcher Jason Vargas to a four-year, $32 million deal. Vargas, 30, will replace the departed Ervin Santana in the Royals rotation. General manager Dayton Moore initially pushed hard to sign righthander Tim Hudson before he ended up signing with San Francisco. The lefthanded Vargas was 9-8 with a 4.02 ERA in 24 starts last season for the...
One player who gets lost in the shuffle when you consider Boston’s championship season, is a former Met farmhand who came through for the Red Sox on many occasions in 2013 and provided them with more than a few big hits. I’m talking about former top prospect Mike Carp who hit one of the most memorable home runs of the season for the Red Sox, a pinch-hit grand slam in the 10th inning...
Updated at 4:45 PM Terry Collins said he doesn’t have a timetable for Shaun Marcum and said it could be a week or 2 before they know. #Mets — Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) April 5, 2013 Original Post at 11:00 AM MMO’s John Delcos reported on April 2 that Shaun Marcum was scratched from his simulated start and was flown from Port St. Lucie to New York to be examined by team doctors....
Have you ever read or heard something that was so out of left field that it made you pause and do a double take? When I read Wallace Matthews’ article on the Yankees signing of Rafael Soriano, I all but mimicked my 4 month old daughter, spitting my morning oatmeal practically through my nose. It seems our step brothers over at Evil Empire Inc., who were spurned by Cliff Lee and Carl...
We all know the Mets added a power bat in Jason Bay, are still dealing with injuries/medical issues to key players like Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, and have huge holes in the starting rotation. But I haven’t heard as much talk about the bullpen. A year ago, almost to the day, I wrote a blog on this site about how the Mets’ revamped bullpen, a terrible weakness in 2008, would...
